This course will review the emergence of the modern Middle East from the fall of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of the First World War to the present. We will discuss the Ottoman legacy in the region and the Western imperial impact on the creation of the Arab state system. The course will review the rise and retreat of Arab nationalism, the problems of internal cohesion of the Arab states, issues of religion and state, and the evolution of Islamist politics. We will also focus on the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its impact on the region and will conclude with an in depth analysis of the “Arab Spring” by placing these contemporary revolutionary events in their historical context.
Please note that there is a second part to this course which is a direct extension of this part. We highly recommend to continue to the second part after you finish this one (https://www.coursera.org/learn/modern-middle-east-2/home/info).

CC

A very clear, rigorous and ENJOYABLE presentation of a very complex subject. Definitely everyone interested in the roots of the modern Middle East troubles should take this primer.

AA

Sep 08, 2017

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A complete breakdown of the Middle Eastern States emergence from the Ottoman Empire's rule to the Mandates imposted by the European Powers post WW1.\n\nLooking forward to part 2.

From the lesson

The Rise of Nationalism; The Demise of Empire

In lesson three, we will witness the rise of nationalism in the Middle East, as it became a much more acceptable idea in the late 19th and early 20th century among an intellectual, elitist, urban minority, who were the graduates of western-style schools (remember lesson two and the process of reform!). We will concentrate on the emergence and development of three nationalist movements; Turkish, Egyptian and Arab. Lastly, we will speak about the First World War and how it brought the end of the Ottoman Empire as well as the end of 400 years of Ottoman Turkish rule in the Arab countries. We will also see how the Middle East began to take its current shape following the First World War.

Taught By

Professor Asher Susser

Senior Research Fellow

Transcript

What about the Jews and the Zionists in the new reality created by the First World War? Palestine was not promised to the Jews either. It is true to say that it was not promised to the Arabs, for the reasons that we have already discussed. But Palestine was not promised to the Jews, either. So let us turn to the Balfour declaration and see why it was issued and what it really said. The very beginning of the First World War, and the fact that it meant the impending dissolution of the empire, gave the Zionists an opportunity that they have been waiting for. If the empire was going to be dismantled, maybe the Zionists could secure Palestine for themselves. The British had their own interests in Palestine and as we have already seen Palestine as part of the general Middlel Eastern area, adjacent to the Suez canal and the passage to India, was very important to the British for their imperial security. Prime Minister Lloyd George was one of those who was quick to recognize the imperial interest that Britain had in Palestine. Lloyd George was also a man with a considerable measure of religious upbringing, and the idea of a British-protected Jewish colony appealed to him as a person who associated because of his biblical studies, the Jews with the Holy Land. In 1917, when the Balfour declaration was issued, the allies position in the war was in a rather sorry state. The war was slow and extremely expensive in human life to the participants on both sides. And there was a great hope amongst the British that the United States would become more involved and that Russia would not withdraw from the war because of its internal difficulties, and would stay involved in the war. And the British thought if they expressed support for Zionist aspirations, this would help propaganda in the US and in Russia to secure greater support in both of these countries for the war effort. So they believed, thanks to the vast Jewish influence that existed in both of these countries. This belief that support for Zionist aspirations, would, thanks to Jewish influence, help propaganda in the US and Russia, and therefore provide great assistance to the war effort was a huge exaggeration about Jewish influence in these respective countries. But it was nevertheless, exaggeration or not, a reason why the British issued the Balfour declaration. And now, let us turn to the declaration, itself, and see what it really says. In this letter from the British Foreign Secretary to the leader of the Jewish community in Britain, the leader of the Zionist organization in England, Lord Rothschild, the British government, in the declaration, expressed their sympathy for Jewish Zionist aspirations. Sympathy, not support. This was a word chosen one may imagine with great caution. The British were being extremely limited and cautious, in their commitment to the Zionist enterprise. His Majesty's government, as we see in the declaration, view with favor, again, less than outright support, view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. So let's dwell for a bit on that sentence. View with favor, not outright support, the establishment in Palestine, not the conversion of Palestine, into a Jewish national home. But the establishment in Palestine, of a Jewish national home, that could be on a very limited part of the territory of Palestine. But, it is indeed a national home for the Jewish people. That on the one hand is a recognition of the Jewish people as a nation with a right to self determination. But on the other hand, it doesn't speak of a state. It speaks only of a national home. And it is not at all clear what that really does mean. And the British government will use their best endeavors, the document says, to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood, that nothing shall be done, which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. So let us dwell for a moment on that sentence. Whatever rights may be recognized for the Jews, the British are also saying that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of other communities in Palestine. But for the other communities in Palestine, two points should be mentioned here. They, the Arab communities, already have civil and religious rights. No national rights are recognized for the Arab communities in Palestine. And who are these other communities in Palestine? They are defined as the non Jewish communities, as if they are the minority in Palestine and the Jews are the majority. But these non-Jewish communities were Arabs, Muslims, Christians, having an identity of their own which was not only to be judged by being non -Jewish. And there was no recognition of their separate identity, nor of any national rights associated with that separate identity. But nothing shall be done, which may prejudice their civil and religious rights. Therefore, there is an obvious restriction on what it is that the Jews can actually do, when they do obtain some kind of political presence in Palestine. The Zionists understood this to mean support of a Jewish State in Palestine, although that is not what the declaration actually says. And as the British historian Malcolm has said about the declaration, it was virtually meaningless and committed Britain to nothing, which is indeed so. However, one must add to that that after the war, when Britain became the mandatory power in Palestine, committed to the League of Nations to implement the Balfour Declaration, then Britain's commitment to the Jews began to mean a lot more than just this declaration.

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